Ornamental material



March 5 1938. c. c. BOLYARD 2,111,108

ORNAMENTAL MATERIAL Filed July 20, 1936 INVENTOR.

BY I

I ATTORNEY5 Patented Mar. 15, 1938 v i onnssw imminent Charles 0.moment-masons.

' p pply'OnmnmaM-Angeles. I acorporation of California Application myvso, 1930, Serial mouse" o 1 Claims. (01. 41-10) This invention relatesto ornamental and decorative structures and particularly to decorativesheet materials for, use as screens or panels, or as a wall material foriorming decorative structures of variousshapes such as pillars,cylinders and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a structure of the general typedescribed which is inexpensive to make and possesses unusual and markeddecorative and ornamental characteristics.

Essentially the invention resides in a structure consisting of a layeroi transparent or translucent tubes or straws, prefer bly P sitionedclose together so that eachtubular'element contacts the two adjoiningelements substantially throughout its length. The tubes may be joinedtogether in any convenient manner and several preferred methods will bedisclosed in the following detailed description which refers to thedrawing. Although the ornamentalcharacteristics of my construction maybe realized with tubes or.

straws of various transparent materials, I prefer to employ tubes ofCellophane which are already'in wide use for soda straws and for makingdecorations ongiit packagesand the like. By virtue. of the curvature ofthe individual straws in my wall structureand the varying reflection andrefraction of light from the curved surfaces, very beautiful eflects areproduced and at relatively low cost since the material is relativelyinexpensive.

My wall structure as described has many uses. some or the most obviousoi which are as screens or shades in window displays. It is alsoparticularly adaptable for forming curvatures in only.

tubular elements or straws employed in the structure shown in F18. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, detailed. vertical sectional view in the planeIll-III of Fig. 1, showing s preferred way of securing the strawstogether:

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view similar'to Fig.

the straws.

o! a section of 3 but showingamj the straws-together; H; Fig. 5 is anelevation view oi a portion 01- wall material in accordance withinvention'showing the straws securedtogether by sewing: ij Fig. 6 is adetailed sectional view 1 VI--VIoiFig.5; i Fig. .7; is a detailedsectional view showing an alternative iorm oi' construction to, that oiFig,

6, in which thestraws are'threaded on strings or .m'

wires-like beads; i

Fig. 8 is a-iaceview oia-portion of a panel in accordancewith theinvention, showing still another method oiattachingthe straws to eachother in which a pair of ribbonmembers are woven back and iorth between;thestraws;

- Fig. 9 is a detailed cross sectional view in th plane IX-IX 01113.8;and

Fig. 10 is a detailed cross section view showing still another way ofsecuring the straws together. ReIei-ringto Fig. 1, there is shown apanel designated generally at consisting of a plurality oi straws ortubes I laid alongside each other in a single layer to define asubstantially imperiorate surface. One 01' the straws is s own inperspective in Fig. 2 and the straws'are shown in section in Fig. 3. Allof the straws are connected together by a plurality of ribbon elements 4which extend across the straws at right v angles on both sides thereof.Thus as shown in 3, a pair of juxtaposed ribbon elements I are connectedtogether at the upper end beyond the last straw and extend therefromdown over the layer of straws oneach side thereoi. I prefer. to bend theribbons inwardly between adjacent straws, as'indicated at the a pointsi, so that, the ribbons contactover a substantial each tube. The ribbonsare also preferably joined to the tubes throughout their areaoieontact'by a suitable adhesive. I Q H 40 In practice, I flnditfeasible to employ ribbons oi Cellophaneorthe like which have beenpreviou y tr ated to render one surface adhesive.

Thus the surface may becoated witha material which softens with heat andbecomessticky but 5' hardens upon cooling. With such-material the.

ribbons I. after being laid across the straws, can beindented betweenthe straws as shown at I and at the same time made to adhere to thestrawsbypressingtheribbonsagainstthestraws 5 with a heated iron.Obviously many other particular inethods may be adopted for forming theproduct. particularly in quantity production.

4 ;The structure shown in m. a is relatively rigid in-view of the largearea of joinder between the 5 the plane- Y ribbons and the tubes.Furthermore, the attachment between the ribbons and the tubes is verysecure by virtue of the large contact area. However. the ribbons 4 willordinarily be capable of yielding to a certain extent, therebypermitting a certainamount of bending of the structure I in thedirection of the ribbons 4.

In the modified form of constructionillustrated in Fig. 4 the ribbons 4aare not indented between the tubes 2a but merely extend tangentiallythereacross and are joined to the tubes at the points of tangency. Thisconstruction in general is not as secure as that shown in Fig. 3 but ismore simple to make and less expensive.

In the construction shownin Fig. 5.the tubes 2b are joined together bysewing. Thus as shown in Fig. 6, two threads 9 and III are threaded backand forth through the tubes 2b to form a double line of stitchingconnecting the tubes. As shown in Fig. 6, the tubes are not crushed andin general it is desirable not to crush or flatten the tubes. However,for some purposes it may be suitable to sew the tubes together with aconventional sewing machine which flattens the tubes along the line ofthe stitching. v

In the construction shown in Fig. 7 the tubes 2c are combined bythreading them on threads or wires Ii which extend through holesprovided therefor in the walls 01' the tubes, the latter being threadedon the threads or wires exactly the same as beads. This construction isdesirable whether it is desired to make the connecting members betweenthe tubes as nearly invisible as possible.

In the construction shown in Fig. 8, instead of employing a pair ofstraight ribbonsextending along opposite sides of the row of tubes asshown in Figs. 3 and 4, the two ribbons are woven back and forth betweenthe tubes M as shown in Fig. 9. With this construction no adhesiveisnecessary to attach the ribbons to the tubesand the ribbons l2 and i3are spaced slightly longitudinally of the tubes'with respect to eachother. This construction is brought out in the cross sectional view ofFig. 9.

In the modified structure shown in Fig. 10'the tubes 2e are joinedtogether by filamentary or ribbon elements I 5 which extend only alongone side (preferably the rear side) of the layer of tubes and are joinedto each tube by separate tie members l6 which extend around each tubeand join at the rear to the member IS. The tie member I6 may be threadsor wires or ribbons.

The constructions shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 6 are particularly desirablewhere it is desirable to obtain as much rigidity as'possible in adirection transverse to the tubes. The constructions shown in Figs. '7and 9 aremore adaptablewhere maximum flexibility for bending in bothdirections is desired. The construction shown in Fig. 10 has theadvantage that it is very flexible to bending in one direction butresists bending in the opposite direction. Thus it bends readily in suchdirection as to shorten the members I! but resists bending in adirection such as tends to stretch or lengthen the members l5.

Various ornamental effects may be obtained by the use of various colors.Thus all of the tubes in a panel may be of a single color withconnecting members of contrasting colors. In some instances desiredeffects may be obtained by using tubes of various colors in the samescreen with or without contrasting colors on the connecting members.

Cellophane straws which constitute the material I prefer to use may beobtained in various lengths and sizes and therefore'screens ofrelatively large dimensions may be easily manufactured in accordancewith the invention.

Although in the description several specific methods of forming screenshave been described. it will be understood that other methods of makingthe product will occur to those skilled in the art and the invention isto be limited only as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a decorative wall material consistingof a plurality of translucent tubes secured together in a continuouslayer. I I

2. As an article ofmanufa'cture, a decorative wall material consistingof a plurality of translucent tubes positioned alongside each other in acontinuous layer, and means extending transversely across said tubes andindividually connected to each tube for binding said tubes together.

3. As an article of manufacture, a decorative wall material consistingof a plurality of translucent tubes positioned alongside each other in asubstantially continuous layer; and means for binding said tubestogether comprising a strip of material extending across and tangent tosaid tubes and secured to each tube at its line of tangency thereto.

' 4. As an article of manufacture, a decorative wall material consistingof a plurality of translucent tubes positioned alongside each other in asubstantially continuous layer. and means for binding said tubestogether comprising a strip'of material extending across said tube anddeformed to contact each tube over an area thereof and being attached toeach tube'over its area of contact therewith. I

5. An article of manufacture as described in claim 3 in which two stripsof material attached to the tubes as specified are positioned injuxtaposed relation on opposite sides of the layer of tubes. v r

6. As an article of manufacture as described in claim 4 in which twostrips of material attached to the tubes as specified are positioned injuxta- 'posed relation on opposite sides of the layer of tubes.

7. As an article of manufacture, a decorative wall material consistingof a plurality of translucent tubes positioned alongside each other in acontinuous layer, and means extending transversely with respect to saidtubes for binding said tubes together, said tubes having transverseholes extending therethrough in registration with each other and saidmeans consisting of 8. diamentary element extending through said holesin said tubes.

CHARLES C. BOLYARD.

